Biting

Hi Bex
My DS2 is a biter I dont have any great suggestions as Im still working with it but this is how I deal with it consistantly - I approach him , remove him from situation then using a firm voice I tell him biting hurts & is not Ok or similar & walk away & ignore him, I then comfort then bite'ee/ victim. Unfortunately he bites others & I have to constantly watch him.
I hope for your benifit Alex doesnt start biting others. Good Luck curbing it

I have resorted to biting mine back. Not hard but enough for him to know that it does hurt and he shouldn't do it.

my bo9y bits and i tried everything everyone suggested and nothing worked......even though we tell him it hurts he just smiles like he is trying to tickle you............i feel sorry for him....he only does it to us and hasnt done it to any kids ............now i shove a carrott in his mouth...........he says yum and forgets about biting me.................good luck

Hey Bex, it is actually quite common for kids between around 1 to 3 years to bite... Often it's due to either; teething, lack of expressive language resulting in frustration, excitement or anger (with no verbal way to express). For example if a child takes a toy off them, older children generally no how to say "no I'm playing with it" kinda thing, however, before that language develops some kids express this through bitting...

When I worked in an early intervention team and this is what recommended to parents to deal with biting...

1. comfort the bitten first - this is giving them the attention and not the biter... help give the bitten appropriate language to say to the bitter (e.g. that hurt, stop)
2. be consistant and use age appropriate language for the child. At one there receptive language is probably around 2 key words a phase so getting into any long explanations of why not to bit is not going to sink in...
3. As biting often functioning as a means to express themselves help them learn the appropriate words or actions to do so.
4. watch for situations that provoke biting and remove the child from the situation before it happens - e.g. little ones don't have the ability to share yet so provide them with their own toy.
5. don't bite back as this isn't teaching any social skill to replace the problem behaviour it is merely reinforcing it.

I wouldn't get too upset about it as it is a very common reaction! oh yeah and if you think it could be due to teething maybe try just giving him something he can bit ...

Hi,

We tell or little one its naughty, put her in time out and we also got this great stuff at the chemist you can put on your finger or whatever and if they try to bit you aim it at them and it is really bitter so it discourages them from biting.